President Trump 2.0

There is an odd obsession with London on the American right and the American media. It's weird not least because pretty much all their cities have higher rates of crime, especially violent crime, than London.

London isn't even the most dangerous area in the UK adjusted for population size. Last I checked it's quite far down.

[1andrew1]

I just don't get their interest. It's just a capital city of another medium-sized northern European country.

[Sephiroth]

It's prolly a deflection from their own woes.

[1andrew1]

Maybe. Don't get me wrong, I'm flattered by their interest but feel it's odd.

[Sephiroth]

Yes - it is odd.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/polit...tration-putin/

Trump’s blast toward Russia is a ‘negotiating tactic,’ White House says

President Donald Trump’s furious rhetoric toward Russia is “a negotiating tactic” intended to pressure the Kremlin, a senior White House official said Wednesday, a day after the president stunned global policymakers and delighted Ukrainian leaders by embracing Kyiv’s ambitions for a decisive defeat of Russia.

The president’s apparent flip in favor of Ukraine’s reconquering its full territory is a marker of Trump’s frustration toward Russian President Vladimir Putin, the senior White House official said, a month after a red-carpet summit in Alaska between the two leaders yielded few concrete results.

But Trump was not signaling a major shift in U.S. policy toward Kyiv during a day at the U.N. General Assembly in which he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the official said, speaking like others on the condition of anonymity to talk frankly about sensitive diplomatic discussions.

The U.S. president has long suggested that Ukraine will need to give up territory to end the war, so his declaration on Tuesday that Kyiv can “WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form” with the right support was a notable break.

But hours later, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the U.N. Security Council that the war would end at a negotiating table, not the battlefield — a conventional restatement of existing U.S. policy that suggested that Trump’s new approach was not being translated into practical action.

The senior White House official said that everything the president does is “from the lens of ‘How can we make a deal?’”

Rule 1 of Negotiation Tactics - don’t tell the other side your Negotiation Tactics…

[TheDaddy]

Originally Posted by Hugh

https://www.washingtonpost.com/polit...tration-putin/



Rule 1 of Negotiation Tactics - don’t tell the other side your Negotiation Tactics…

Art of the deal...

Originally Posted by Hugh

Rule 1 of Negotiation Tactics - don’t tell the other side your Negotiation Tactics…

I dont think Trump has any tactics, other than "open mouth, spew out nonsense".

https://wapo.st/4nidndf

Hegseth orders rare, urgent meeting of hundreds of generals, admirals

The Pentagon has summoned military officials from around the world for a gathering in Virginia. Even top generals and their staffs don’t know the reason for the meeting.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered hundreds of the U.S. military’s generals and admirals to gather on short notice — and without a stated reason — at a Marine Corps base in Virginia next week, sowing confusion and alarm after the Trump administration’s firing of numerous senior leaders this year.

The highly unusual directive was sent to virtually all of the military’s top commanders worldwide, according to more than a dozen people familiar with the matter. The directive was issued earlier this week, as a government shutdown looms, and months after Hegseth’s team at the Pentagon announced plans to undertake a sweeping consolidation of top military commands.

In a statement Thursday, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell affirmed that Hegseth “will be addressing his senior military leaders early next week,” but he offered no additional details. Parnell, a senior adviser to the defense secretary, voiced no concerns about The Washington Post reporting on the meeting, scheduled for Tuesday in Quantico, Virginia.

There are about 800 generals and admirals spread across the United States and dozens of other countries and time zones. Hegseth’s order, people familiar with the matter said, applies to all senior officers with the rank of brigadier general or above, or their Navy equivalent, serving in command positions and their top enlisted advisers. Typically, these officers each oversee hundreds or thousands of rank-and-file troops.

Top commanders in conflict zones and senior military leaders stationed throughout Europe, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region are among those expected to attend Hegseth’s meeting, said people familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to publicly discuss the issue. The order does not apply to top military officers who hold staff positions.

None of the people who spoke with The Post could recall a defense secretary ever ordering so many of the military’s generals and admirals to assemble like this. Several said it raised security concerns.

Outstanding OpSec…

[Carth]

Nice juicy target for anyone with the means to . . . nah, nobody would . . would they?

https://www.reuters.com/business/med...ry-2025-09-29/

Trump says US to impose 100% tariff on movies made outside the country

President Donald Trump said on Monday he would impose a 100% tariff on all films produced overseas that are then sent into the U.S., repeating a threat made in May that would upend Hollywood's global business model.

The step signals Trump's willingness to extend protectionist trade policies into cultural industries, raising uncertainty for studios that depend heavily on cross-border co-productions and international box-office revenue…

… The U.S. film industry recorded a $15.3 billion trade surplus in 2023, backed by $22.6 billion in exports to international markets, according to the Motion Picture Association.

Studio executives told Reuters earlier this year that they were "flummoxed" by how a movie tariff might be enforced, given that modern films often use production, financing, post-production and visual effects spread across multiple countries.

Hollywood has increasingly relied on overseas production hubs such as Canada, the UK and Australia, where tax incentives have attracted big-budget shoots for films ranging from superhero blockbusters to streaming dramas.

At the same time, co-productions with foreign studios have become more common, particularly in Asia and Europe, where local partners provide financing, access to markets, and distribution networks.

Industry executives also warn that a broad tariff could affect the thousands of U.S. workers employed on overseas shoots, from visual effects artists to production crews, whose work is often coordinated across multiple countries.

US Government shutdown imminent.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/clylje0rmp2t

US senators have failed to pass a last-minute bill to avert a government shutdown, all but guaranteeing funding will cut off at midnight ET (04.00 GMT)

What a way to run a country.

[papa smurf]

Originally Posted by Chris

What a way to run a country.

Dim-ocracy in action

[thenry]

Hey! I'm a dim bulb . Nothing wrong with a nation not offended by anything.. keep calm and ignore woke